“Journaling is like whispering to one’s self and listening at the same time” – Mina Murray
I think everyone should take the time out of their day to journal, to experience the wonders it can bring into your life. Journaling is such a powerful exercise to help you clear your head in many ways. You can use many different approaches to use this tool, and there is no perfect way to do it…do what works for you.
Journaling is not only a relaxing exercise but it also comes with many benefits:
- Improves writing and creative thinking.
- Increases your memory retention and cognitive skills.
- Increases mindfulness and self-awareness.
- Improves sleep as it naturally helps reduce stress.
And you don’t even need much to start with…all you need is a paper and a pen! I personally like to keep a journal book, but if you prefer digital, you can use the notepad on the phone or laptop.
Like I said, there is no perfect way to journal…what matters is you block some time out of your day to actually do it!
6 Things to Write About in Your Journal to Clear Your Mind.
- Gratitude
Practising gratitude in your daily life will make you happier, more optimistic and allows you to see the good things that surround you. This type of journal can be one of the easiest ones to write, and it comes with a heap of benefits.
Just make a list of all the things you are grateful for in your life, it can be anything from your morning cup of coffee to the people in your life. Making this exercise part of your daily routine, can improve your overall physical and mental wellbeing.
- Daily Life
At the end of the day, as you wind down to relax into bed, take a moment to jot down the events of the day. This is a great way to keep track of what has happened, the people you met, the places you went or an experience you had.
Regardless of how insignificant it may seem, this will allow you to keep a summary of your life events to look back on and you can use this journal to reflect on the past moments and memories.
- Thoughts and Feelings
We go through many emotions and thoughts throughout the day which can weigh down our mind. It can become difficult and mentally exhausting to carry all these emotions in your head and navigate through your day.
Physically putting these thoughts and feelings onto the paper will help you clear your mind and allow you to process through them with a clear mind. While this type of journaling can help with difficult emotions, it can also give space to celebrate the good ones.
- Affirmations
The power of affirmation is a well known concept for everyone, it can help boost your confidence, battle negative self-talk by creating a positive mindset. Affirmations are also a great way to manifest what you want out of life.
Start writing your intentions down, what you want for yourself, how you vision your life to be and where you want to go in your life. The exercise of physically writing these down can help manifest the outcome you want yourself by changing the way you think and act towards them.
- Reflection
Self-reflection is an integral part of self-development and self-growth.
Keeping a weekly, monthly or annual reflection journal is a great way to reflect on the past year, month or week.
You can write down the things you have accomplished, what you failed to achieve, important events and how it made you feel, things which changed your perspective, things that have helped you or exhausted you mentally and physically.
Reflecting on your past experiences will help you make the necessary changes in your life to avoid the same mistakes and strategize to overcome similar challenges. Likewise it can also help you understand what you want out of life and how you vision the future to be.
- Set Goals
Everyone has dreams and aspirations, whether big or small. It’s important to write them down to help you articulate what needs to be done to achieve them. Goals and action plans are crucial steps in achieving our dreams and aspirations.
Writing down your goals will help you visualise what needs to be done and when. This is a crucial part of the goal setting process to initiate what your action plan must be in achieving that goal. Having a physical reminder of the goals will hold you accountable when you lose sight of the bigger picture.
CUP OF FINAL THOUGHTS ????
Journaling is an easy yet a powerful tool to understand yourself better, navigate your challenges, and for self-development and self-growth. It doesn’t require much other than making the time to actually do it.
Feel free to start small, with a few minutes a day and go from there. There is no perfect way to write, so make it as unique and personal as you want. It’s essentially to help you unload your mind and see things from a clear perspective.
It’s the little steps that make a big difference!
